@article{ref1,
title="Temporal trends of suicide-related non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest characteristics and outcomes with the COVID-19 pandemic",
journal="Resuscitation plus",
year="2022",
author="Yap, Justin and Scheuermeyer, Frank X. and van Diepen, Sean and Barbic, David and Straight, Ron and Wall, Nechelle and Asamoah-Boaheng, Michael and Christenson, Jim and Grunau, Brian",
volume="9",
number="",
pages="e100216-e100216",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Jurisdictions have reported COVID-19-related increases in the incidence and mortality of non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). We hypothesized that changes in suicide incidence during the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to these changes. We investigated whether the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with changes in the: (1) incidence of suicide-related OHCA, and (2) characteristics and outcomes of such cases. <br><br>METHODS: We used the provincial British Columbia Cardiac Arrest Registry, including non-traumatic emergency medical system (EMS)-assessed OHCA, to compare suicide-related OHCA (defined as clear self-harm or a priori communication of intent) one-year prior to, and one year after, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 15, 2020). We calculated differences in incidence (with 95% CI), overall and within subgroups of mechanism (hanging, suffocation, poisoning, or unclear mechanism), and in case characteristics and hospital-discharge favourable neurological outcomes (CPC 1-2). <br><br>RESULTS: Of 13,785 EMS-assessed OHCA, we included 274/6430 (4.3%) pre-pandemic and 221/7355 (3.0%) pandemic-period suicide-related cases. The median age was 43 years (IQR 30-57), 157 (32%) were female, and 7 (1.4%) survived with favourable neurological status. Suicide-related OHCA incidence decreased from 5.4 pre-pandemic to 4.3 per 100 000 person-years (-1.1, 95% CI -2.0 to -0.28). Hanging-related OHCA incidence also decreased. Patient characteristics and hospital discharge outcomes between periods were similar. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Suicide-related OHCA incidence decreased with the COVID-19 pandemic and we did not detect changes in patient characteristics or outcomes, suggesting that suicide is not a contributor to increases in COVID-related OHCA incidence or mortality. Overall outcomes in both time periods were poor.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2666-5204",
doi="10.1016/j.resplu.2022.100216",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resplu.2022.100216"
}